I saw some very interesting posts about therianthrophy in the "what is Otherkin"-thread, so I figured we could do with a topic about it. I realise there is a lot of discussion about whether a therian belongs to the label 'Otherkin', but the subject of therianthropy is simply too fascinating to pass up. I'm going to write what I have been able to gather from the time I've spent in the community, but I would really like to hear everyone else's take on it.

Some therians may simply believe that they have an animal side or aspect to their personality and/or nature. Explanations given for this vary widely, but one of the more common is that it can be caused by an unusual kind of neurophysiology. Most do not regard this as dysfunctional to the system unless it is disruptive to the individual's life and happiness. The spiritual understanding or component of therianthropy often overlaps with well-known aspects of shamanism and totemism. The tales about shapeshifting, in particular, are familiar and inspirational. Those who prefer this spiritual understanding may believe that they partly or fully are in possession of the soul of some type of animal.

One very interesting component in therianthropy is the debate about shifting and a therian's own experiences with these shifts. This website has a small but good section about the different types of shifts that have presented themselves throughout the years. I'm not saying that everything written about the shifts is gospel, because many people believe many different things, but it'll give you a rough idea of the phenomenon that's called shifting. I particularly found the notion of phantom limbs very interesting, because that is something found throughout the Otherkin community in many different forms.

__________________She had studied the universe all her life, but had overlooked its clearest message:for small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.
- Carl Sagan

There are obviously severe/acute cases of Therianthropy which are not in dispute.You only have to see the spike in admissions to casualty wards during full moons,seemingly *inexplicable*,other than the gates to VOID are fully opened at this time.

In navigating the Setian current I have awoken as many things and travelled as these.One of my best meetings was as a blade of grass,among a vast plain of other seemingly similar one's.

www.werelist.com is a good forum that is therian focused, but home to various types of otherkin. Personally, I put therians in the otherkin umbrella category because the only difference between therians and other types of otherkin are the sort of non-human whatever they identify with. Both therians and other sorts of otherkin experience various types of shifts, have the same basic beliefs, etc. *shrug*

The main reason why some therians don't want to be or like to be grouped in with otherkin in general is that they feel their beliefs are somehow more legitimate because what they identify as can be proven to exist or have existed here on earth because they identify with extinct or extant species of earthly animal.

Whether or not beings like kitsune, dragons, etc. fit into the therian category is something that is rather debated. Some people argue that only earthly animals count, while others just say it has to be some sort of animal. In the case of kitsune, I'd say no only because kitsune are fox spirits, not foxes...so not animals exactly. Dragons, well that depends on your personal therian definition. I tend to agree with the earthly animals interpretation and since I don't believe dragons ever physically existed here on earth, I go with dragon-kin as opposed to dragon therian, but whatever floats your boat.

__________________"You do not have a soul, you are a soul. You have a body."-C.S. Lewis"Seasons don't fear the reaper. Nor do the wind, the sun, or the rain."-Blue Oyster Cult"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."-Poe

I think feeling associated to creatures alien to us falls more under Otherkin.

(and I say alien to us because to them, we're the aliens )

In my years hanging around the Therian places and the Otherkin places, I think the distinction really does come down to how they relate to the belief more than anything - though I think that's been mentioned. The approach to each subject and subsequent beliefs and practices in a very different way. I'd agree they basically all fall under the same umbrella, but the distinctions in each sub-category exist. Certainly, the two communities tend to attract very different types of people - with my experience of the therian community being more objective and mind-based overall, dominated by analytical language, while the Otherkin community is more dominated by spiritual, subjective concepts and emotive language for the experience.

Certainly I knew of people who identified as were-dragon but not dragonkin, and vice-versa. The therianthropes tend to describe the animal self as a facet of the self - or facets of the self (though not always), while the Otherkin tended to describe their connection as the whole of the self (again, not always, but more commonly). Therianthropy, at least some years ago, was more related to a duality than was found within Otherkin.

Of course, it all changes and shifts, and definitions change with it, as the community grows, changes focus etc.

My oldest friend that I have is a dragon. She refers to herself as Dragon, not as a dragonkin or were-dragon, but simply as dragon. She may be in human form, but she is still dragon. I think that sort of mentality definitely fits more in the otherkin umbrella than in the therian one, but of course ymmv.